In 2011 the British Columbia Liberal Party received 42 times as much money in donations as the BC Conservatives, a party they are tied with in recent public opinion polls.

The Liberals also took in twice as much as the New Democratic Party, who have led in those polls.

Elections BC records show the Liberals received $8,935,566 in political donations in 2011. Of that, nearly $5 million came from corporations and just over $3 million from individuals.

During the same period the Conservatives received $210,397, including $11,000 from corporations. The rest came from individuals and fundraising events.

And the NDP's political contributions for the period totalled $4,412,786. Over $3.3 million of that came from individuals, while unions gave $835,025 and corporations donated $230,028.

An Angus Reid poll released this week gave the NDP 43 percent, well ahead of both the BC Liberals and Conservatives who were tied at 23 percent each. The result differed from a recent Mustel poll, but was similar to one conducted by Forum Research.

The BC Liberals' submission also notes they spent $43,861 on the byelection in 2011 during the official campaign period, plus another $47,401 before the campaign began. Premier Christy Clark narrowly won that byelection in Vancouver-Point Grey over the NDP's David Eby.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Find him on Twitter or reach him here.